Turkey & Dumplings

With so many thanksgiving recipes it's important to find ways to use up all the fantastic leftovers. These turkey & dumplings is the perfect way to reinvent turkey leftovers. I usually make this for clients right after the holidays but if you don’t have extra turkey feel free to use roasted chicken instead. If you have homemade broth, this recipe is the perfect place to use it to bring an extra richness to the dish, but a good quality store bought broth works as well. The recipe can be made DF by substituting DF butter and soured plant-based milk instead of buttermilk.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter (DF if desired)

2 tbsp olive oil  

salt

pepper

4 carrots, peeled and diced

4 stalks celery, diced

½ tsp dried thyme 

4 cloves garlic, minced 

¼ c flour 

5 c broth (use turkey broth if you have it or chicken is fine) 

1 c green beans, chopped into small pieces (green peas could be substituted as well) 

1.5 lb turkey, cooked and shredded (about 3 cups)

1 tbsp lemon juice 

Dumplings 

1 c flour 

½ tsp salt 

¾ tsp baking powder

 ¼ c. chives and/or parsley, finely chopped

1 egg 

⅓ c + 1 tbsp buttermilk (sour your own milk with 1/2 tsp lemon juice - works for DF milk too!)

1 tbsp melted butter

Instructions 

Melt the oil and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in diced carrots and celery along with ¼ tsp salt and pepper and saute for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Add minced garlic and crumble in thyme and saute for 30-60 seconds until fragrant.

Add flour to make a roux and toast the flour in the pan for about a minute, stirring until the mixture is lightly browned and sticky. 

Add the broth 1 cup at a time, stirring to incorporate. Continue to add broth and stir until smooth, add in ¼ tsp salt (½ tsp salt if your broth is unsalted). Bring the broth to a simmer and continue to cook while preparing the dumpling dough.

For the dumplings, whisk 1 egg, 1/3 c + 1 tbsp buttermilk, and 1 tbsp melted butter in a bowl.

In a separate medium bowl mix the dry ingredients, 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp baking powder and 1/4 cup chopped herbs. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined, being careful to not overwork the mixture. It should be a thick cake-like consistency.

Add the green beans into the broth. Use two spoons to form the dumplings and place them in the broth, the dumplings will float. I like my dumplings smaller but you can make them larger if you desire. After about two minutes gently flip the dumplings over in the broth and continue to cook for an additional two minutes. You will know your dumplings are done when they have puffed up and solidly hold together.

Add in the cooked turkey and lemon juice. Check the mixture for seasoning, remove from heat and serve!